UK music charts

The UK music charts are a collection of charts that reflect the music-buying habits of people within the United Kingdom. Most of them are produced by the Official Charts Company.

Main charts

All-genre charts

• UK Singles Chart - The official singles chart of the United Kingdom. It uses physical and download sales, and (since July 2014) a factor for audio streams.^[1]
• UK Albums Chart - The official albums chart of the United Kingdom. It uses physical and download sales, and (since March 2015) a factor for audio streams.^[2]
• The Sky VIP Official Big Top 40 - Singles chart introduced in 2009 and compiled by downloads from iTunes. It is broadcast on 140 local radio stations in the UK.^[3]
• UK Singles Downloads Chart - Singles chart based purely on downloads. Introduced in 2004.^[4]
• UK Album Downloads Chart - Albums chart based purely on downloads. Introduced in 2006.^[5]
• Official Audio Streaming Chart - Chart based purely on song plays on digital streaming services.^[6]
• Official Albums Streaming Chart - Chart based purely on album plays on digital streaming services.^[7]
• Official Physical Singles Chart - Chart based purely on physical single sales.
• Official Music Video Chart - Chart based purely on the UK's biggest music videos of the week, based on sales of DVDs, Blu-rays and other physical formats.^[8]
• Official Vinyl Singles Chart - Chart of the biggest selling vinyl singles.^[9]
• Official Vinyl Albums Chart - Chart of the biggest selling vinyl albums.^[9]
• Scottish Singles Chart - Regional chart. Reflects how sales towards the UK Singles Chart are faring in Scotland.
• Scottish Albums Chart - Regional chart. Reflects how sales towards the UK Albums Chart are faring in Scotland.
• UK Independent Singles Charts - Chart of the biggest selling independent singles.
• UK Independent Albums Chart - Chart of the biggest selling independent albums.
• Official Soundtrack Albums Chart - Chart of the biggest selling film/TV soundtrack and musical theatre albums.

Afrobeats

• Official Afrobeats Chart - Chart of the biggest selling Afrobeats and Afroswing songs.

Asian

• Asian Music Chart - Chart of the biggest selling Asian singles.^[10]
• Official Punjabi Music Chart - Chart of the biggest selling punjabi singles.

Classical

• Official Classical Artist Albums Chart - Chart of the biggest selling classical music albums which have 60% or more of their playing time dedicated to "classical or traditional" music.
• Official Specialist Classical Chart - Chart of the biggest selling specialist classical albums which have all of their playing time dedicated to "classical or traditional" music.
• Official Classical Compilation Albums Chart - Chart of the biggest selling classical music compilation albums.

Country/Roots

• Official Americana Albums Chart - Chart of the biggest selling Americana albums.^[11]
• Official Country Artists Albums Chart - Chart of the biggest selling country music albums.
• Official Country Compilations Chart - Chart of the biggest selling country music compilation albums.
• Official Folk Albums Chart - Chart of the biggest selling folk music albums.

Dance

• UK Dance Singles Chart - Chart of the biggest selling dance singles.
• UK Dance Albums Chart - Chart of the biggest selling dance albums.

Hip Hop/R&B

• UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart - Chart of the biggest selling hip hop and R&B singles
• UK Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart - Chart of the biggest selling hip hop and R&B albums.

Jazz/Blues/Gospel

• Official Jazz & Blues Albums Chart - Chart of the biggest selling jazz and blues albums.
• Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart - Chart of the most popular christian and gospel albums in the UK.^[12]

Rock/Metal

• UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart - Chart of the biggest selling rock and heavy metal singles.
• UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart - Chart of the biggest selling rock and heavy metal albums.

Other charts

Further genre, format and regional charts are produced by OCC and other compilers.

Classic FM introduced a classical music chart and the annual Classic FM Hall of Fame. In response, BBC Radio 3 introduced a specialist classical chart that lists only "serious" classics, and devoted some of its Tuesday morning programming to this chart.^[13]

On March 10, 2024, the UK Country Airplay chart debuted, the first ever genre-specific airplay chart. Monitored by Radiomonitor and the UK wing of the Country Music Association, chart rankings collate information from a range of participating radio stations to identify the most listened to country music single in the UK each week. The chart itself is posted on Holler Country.^[14]

References

1. Kreisler, Lauren (22 June 2014). "UK's Official Singles Chart to include streaming data for first time". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
2. Copsey, Rob (11 February 2015). "UK's Official Albums Chart to include streaming data for first time". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
3. Barnett, Emma (22 May 2009). "The 'Top 10' singles go real time in iTunes deal". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
4. Wells, Matt (2 September 2004). "Record industry produces first chart of legal downloads". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
5. West, Dave (9 April 2006). "Album chart allows downloads from Sunday". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
6. Langshaw, Mark (10 May 2012). "Official music streaming chart launching in UK". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
7. "Album charts to count streamed songs". BBC News. BBC. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
8. Official Music Video Chart Top 50 | Official Charts Company
9. Siddique, Haroon (13 April 2015). "Vinyl records get into groove with own charts". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
10. . Daily Ent Xpress. 16 October 2019. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
11. "Mumford and Sons fail authenticity test as first UK Americana chart launches". The Independent. Independent News & Media. 29 January 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
12. "Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart | Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
13. "BBC - Podcasts and Downloads Rights Restrictions". bbc.co.uk.
14. Eames, Tom (March 11, 2024). "Conner Smith tops UK's first ever Country Radio Airplay Chart". Smooth Radio.